Netflix has received its first Oscar nomination for the documentary The Square, marking the video streaming site’s continued move towards mainstream adoption.
Directed by Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, the film follows the protests in Tahrir Square from the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak through the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
An earlier version of the film won the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It was also an official selection at the 2013 New York Film Festival.
A year on, Noujaim is releasing a new version of the film which takes into account the forced military removal of the Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi in the summer of 2013.
The film has also won a slew of awards, including the Audience Award at both Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival. Noujaim personally is up for a Director’s Guild of America Award.
Netflix announced in November that it had acquired the film, calling it its first major original documentary.
Competing with The Square in the Academy Awards’ Documentary Feature category are: The Act of Killing, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars and 20 Feet From Stardom.
The Square wins, it would be the first Academy Award for Netflix content. Netflix got its first Golden Globe on Sunday, when Robin Wright won for House of Cards.
